A private view of the genius of Cecil Beaton reflected through the lens of his town and
country idylls and his passion for interior design gardening and entertaining a circle of
Bright Young Things. Cecil Beaton (1904 1980) was one of twentieth-century Britain s
Renaissance men: photographer costume designer set designer playwright creator of fashion
fabrics and writer on raffiné interiors and the personalities who inhabited them. He also
happened to be a fine interior decorator. Cecil Beaton at Home focuses on two homes dear to
Beaton s heart Ashcombe House near the Wiltshire village of Tollard Royal and Reddish House
located in Broad Chalke another village in the same county as well as London's Pelham Place
and Beaton s New York hotel suites. Simultaneously a retreat an inspiration a photographer s
studio and a stage for impressive entertaining Beaton s country homes also fueled his passion
for art gardening and delight in village life. Against his often-extravagant interiors
Beaton s private life unfolds his unique talent for self-promotion desire for theatricality
and uncertain pursuit of love. This lavishly illustrated visual biography brings together
original photographs artworks and possessions from his interiors to present an intimate
picture of Beaton s extraordinary life.
